Railroad car bulk cargo door



y 14, 1968 J. s. GARDNER 3,382,909

RAILROAD CAR BULK CARGO DOOR Filed Oct. 11, 1965 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Q c Q a Q i (0 no 3h 1 Q r i g q ("7 ('7 K F fi Q 1 L 0; N M a INVENTOR JIMMIE S. GARDNER y 1968 J. 5. GARDNER 3,382,909

RAILROAD GAR BULK CARGO DOOR Filed Oct. 11, 1965 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 v N fil Q LL LO w m Q V l I 6* e m Q/PIIIIIiI/fi) Q) I 1' 1 L1 O: m m (D 0. m m LL Li R d INVENTOR.

n JIMMIE s. GARDNER May 14, 1968 Filed Oct. 11, 1965 J. 5. GARDNER 3,382,909

RAILROAD CAR BULK CARGO DOOR 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 JIMMIE S.GARDNER May 14, 1968 J. 5. GARDNER 3,332,909

RAILROAD CAR BULK CARGO DOOR Filed Oct. 11, 1965 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 RQE GE INVENTOR. JH IMIE GARDNER May 14, 1968 J. 5. GARDNER RAILROAD CAR BULK CARGO DOOR 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Oct. 11, 1965 w GE INVENTORv JH H HE S. GARDNER United States Patent 3,382,909 RAILRGAD CAR BULK CARGO DOOR Jimmie S. Gardner, Box 341, Washington, NC. 27889 Filed Sci. 11, 1965, Ser. No. 494,810 19 Claims. (Cl. 169-201) This invention relates to grain and other bulk carg retaining doors for railroad cars and also for trucks and other purposes, and more particularly it is an object of this invention to provide an efiicient, permanent grain door.

Perhaps the chief reason for the lack of general use of permanently mounted grain doors in railroad cars has been the potential danger of damage to the supporting trackways by their being struck by shovel boards used to push the grain out of the railroad car. It is my belief that this problem in combination with cost problems and the absence of other new features of my invention are the chief reasons why it has been economically more desirable to retain the grain by means of temporary grain door opening closures which are nailed in place and then later discarded, as represents a Waste and, in addition, causes an unsightly littering of railroad yards by such discarded temporary grain door closures.

However, a grain door of the permanent type must have many features making it sufficiently practical to be actually used in this competitive market. They must be sufficiently permanent. The shovel boards used to push the grain out are pulled by cables and with great power and such trackway-mounted grain doors as have been prO- posed heretofore would quickly have their tracks ripped away by either the cable itself or by being struck by the shovel board.

It is, therefore, an object of this invention to provide my concept of a permanent grain car door having a trackway in combination with means to protect the trackway from damage from shovel boards, fork lift trucks, and also from shifting hard cargo, at times when the car is being used for other purposes than grain, a preferred means of protecting the trackway from such damage is to place it in recesses created in the wall of the boxcar adjacent the door opening, and to further protect that edge which is adjacent the door from engagement by cables and cargo by means having sufiicient strength to withstand such abuses.

Still a further prior art problem solved in this way is that a shovel board being pulled along the side of a grain car would become suddenly stopped if it struck an exposed door trackway with danger that the operator might be struck by a shovel board handle which might suddenly be caused to swing upwardly or to the side with great force. It is, therefore, an object of this invention to provide a permanent grain .car door which can be operated with safety.

Of great importance to a railroad car is the possibility of multiple uses, so that it can be used as a grain car at one time or later as a common boxcar for other cargo. It is an object of this invention to provide a way to store the entire grain door within the boxcar and closely adjacent or above the top of the door opening Where it cannot be damaged by other cargoes of heavy freight which sometimes shifts. This is especially vital as there is a practical limit to the cost of a permanent grain door as dictates that it be made of light gauge material which could be quickly damaged by shifting cargo such as crates and other equipment. It is, therefore, an object of this invention to provide a solution for this problem in the form of my concept of a grain door which is of a height when in use such that its vertical dimension when in use position will permit it to be substantially completely stored in a horizontal position when not in use with no parts projecting downward any substantial distance as would be in the way of movement of other cargo through the boxcar door opening.

A further object is to save over a period of years great sums of money by making it practical to provide a permanent bulk cargo or grain car door of light gauge material at such low price that it can be used.

Another object is to provide a door the light gauge panels of which have a suflicient strength and rigidity because they are horizontally bent in various places.

Still another object is to provide a grain car door the panels of which are hinged together economically by means of the formation of interlocking portions of panels.

Other and further objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following detailed description, drawings and claims, the scope of the invention not being limited to the drawings themselves as the drawings are only for the purpose of illustrating a way in which the principles of this invention can be applied.

Other embodiments of the invention utilizing the same or equivalent principles may be used and structural changes may be made as desired by those skilled in the art without departing from the present invention and the purview of the appended claims.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevation of a railroad boxcar shown with a grain door of this invention installed there- FIGURE 2 is a sectional view taken along the line 2-2 of FIGURE 1, showing two grain doors in place on the doors of the boxcar.

FIGURE 3 is a sectional view taken along the line 3-3 of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 4 is a detail of a door-holding latch of FIG- URE 2, with a portion of a track broken away for illustration.

FIGURE 5 is a sectional view taken along the line 5-5 of FIGURE 2.

FIGURE 6 is a sectional view taken along the line 66 of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 7 is a detail of a portion of FIGURE 6.

FIGURE 8 is a sectional view taken along the line 88 of FIGURE 7.

The combination of this invention is generally indicated at 10 in FIGURE 1 and comprises a bulk-load-carrying vehicle such as a boxcar 12 having side walls 14 and a roof 16. At least one, and preferably both of the side walls 14 have doorway openings therethrough as indicated in FIGURE 8 and also in FIGURE 1.

A conventional outer door of the borcar 12 is disposed on the outer side of the respective walls 14.

A bulk cargo or grain door generally indicated at of this invention is disposed across the opening 20 and has a plurality of horizontally elongated panels 42 disposed one above another, means interconnecting adjacent ones of the panels 42 is best seen at 46 in FIGURE 6 and comprises a hinged interconnection accomplished by having horizontally extending interlocking adjacent edge portions 48 and 50 of adjacent panels disposed with an edge portion 48 received within an edge portion 50 to accomplish a pivotal connection for pivoting about a horizontal axis extending lengthwise of the boxcar 12 and parallel to a wall 14 thereof. The end portions 48 and 50 can be formed of the same material as the remainder of the respective panels 42 for economy of manufacture.

Referring to FIGURE 8, it will be seen that at each side of the door 42 one of a pair of trackways is provided, each trackway 60 having a substantially C-shape in cross section in a portion 64 thereof which is adapted to receive rollers 66 attached to the panels 42 by axles 68, by hanger bars '79 attached to the axles 68 and extending through openings 74 through the respective panel 42 with an inner end of each hanger bar 70 being pivotally mounted by a pin 72 for rotation about an axis 76 disposed horizontally and in general parallelism with the elongation of the panels 42.

The pins 72 are secured to a housing 80 by bolts 82 The housing 80 prevents grain stored on the inside of the boxcar from moving through the openings 74. Further sealing means for preventing escape of grain is provided at on each side of the entrance 94 to the trackway and trackway protection assembly generally indicated at so as to prevent grain from passing through the entrance 94. The sealing material 90 has its innerside 92 secured suitably to these surfaces 116 of each panel 42 which are disposed in a vertical plane at times when the door is closed. The material 90 is disposed partially on each side of each hanger bar 70 with openings 12G provided through the material 90 to receive the hanger bars 70.

The assembly 100 has on the innermost side 124 of the C-shaped trackway portion 64 a portion 132 which extends away from the doorway opening 20 at a right angle thereto in horizontal cross section, as best seen in FIG- URE 8, for the purpose of engaging the inner surface 136 of an inner wall member 140 of the boxcar.

The C-shaped trackway portion 60 is received in a notch in a doorway post of the boxcar, the latter posts each extending vertically on opposite sides of the doorway 20 and being protected from engagement by fork-lift trucks and the like by a vertically extending covering 164 preferably formed of steel, the portion 164 having an inner terminal edge portion 166 turning away from the doorway opening 20 and being received in a recess 168 on the doorway 20 side of a track protection element 170. The track protection element 170 is actually preferably formed integrally and of the same material with the track portion 60 and is attached thereto approximately along a vertical line 172 and extends therefrom toward the doorway opening 20 turning at a right angle at 174 providing a portion 176 disposed in parallelism with and along that side of the member 164 which is disposed away from the doorway opening 20.

It will be seen that a trackway protection means is formed by the covering 164 and the protection element 170 and particularly by the portion 176 of the latter, and that those parts of the trackway protection means which are exposed so that they could be struck by implements traveling through the doorway and could possibly be damaged thereby, being spaced a sufiicient distance from the trackway means 60 that such spacing will substantially reduce the likelihood of damage to the trackway means 60 at a time when. a substantial force strikes the exposed parts of the protection means.

As best seen in FIGURE 7, an inclined portion 180 of the housing 80 lies against a portion of a respective panel 42 and has an opening 192 therethrough in registry with the opening 74 for permitting the hanger bar 70 to pass therethrough.

Referring to FIGURE 2, it will be seen that the trackway 60 is first vertically disposed in a portion 260 thereof, then curved inwardly in a portion 262 thereof, and then extends horizontally inwardly of the boxcar 12 in a portion 264 thereof.

The horizontal inwardly extending portion 264 of an opposite doorway assembly is seen in FIGURE 2 to be disposed parallel with and above the section 264, whereby doors can be stored therein one above another without conflict.

The trackways 60 and 60' can be secured to the boxcar in any suitable way.

As best seen in FIGURE 1, the lowermost panel 342 of the door 40 is provided with a pressure relief door 360 therein which extends a very substantial distance longitudinally thereof and longitudinally of the boxcar.

It is to be understood that the door 360 is suitably attached to the respective panel 342 by any suitable hinge means 366 which will permit the do r 60 to swing outwardly and upwardly at its bottom end to allow grain to escape from behind the grain door 40.

In FIGURE 1 a pair of lock bars will be seen at 330 pivotally connected to the pressure relief door 360 and having hook-like lower ends 390 adapted to latch through openings 392 in the floor 396 of the boxcar, as best seen in FIGURE 3, and into recesses 398 in the floor 396 through locking plates 4% whereby the levers 380 make possible convenient control of the locking and unlocking of the relief door 360.

The opening covered by the relief door 366 is seen in FIGURE 3 at 410 and it is of a sufficient length longitudinally of the panels 42 so as to substantially relieve all pressure of bulk cargo from behind the door 20.

In operation when the pressure has been relieved, the door 40 can be raised on its trackways until a respective latch assembly 430 seen in FIGURE 4 can be operated so that its latching end 430 can engage between rollers 66 of the door for preventing the door from moving back downwardly again.

The latching assembly 430 is urged toward door roller engagement by a spring 434 and is pulled out of such engagement by a cable 436 extending around a pulley 438, as best seen in FIGURE 4, and also extends vertically downward in a section 440 thereof by extending over pulleys 442 at the top of the doorway. The lower end 444 of the cable 436 is in a position for convenient reach by a person standing on the floor of the boxcar.

It is particularly significant that a lighter gauge of material can be used in the bulk cargo door panels 42 because sections thereof are offset, as seen in FIGURE 6 at 500 and 502, for extending at approximately 45 degrees with respect to the horizontal and vertical in order to give the door a rigidity. This rigidity is further enhanced by the flanges 48 and 50 at the ends forming the hinge assemblies or pivotally interconnection assemblies 46, as best seen in FIGURE 6.

Referring now to FIGURE 5, it will be seen that each door is automatically urged into an upper position by a spring assembly generally indicated at 600 and having a coil spring 610 extending around a shaft 620 and fixed to a wall portion 640 of the boxcar by means 642 at one end of the spring with the other end of the spring attached to the shaft 620 by means 660 whereby the spring tends to urge the shaft to rotate in a direction for counteracting the force of gravity to make raising of the door easy because the ends of the shaft 620 are attached to drums 670 to which cable is connected, the cable 680 extending downwardly and being attached at its lower end suitably to a lower inner side of the door 40 by any suitable means such as the attaching means 686 shown in FIGURE 5.

As best seen in FIGURE 5, although the upper edge 700 of the door 40, when in closed position, is of the height for containing grain filled to a height 710 seen in FIGURE 2, yet the upper edge 700 does not extend completely to the upper edge 730 of the doorway opening 20, as best seen in FIGURE 1, because the door is purposely of a lesser height as makes the door of a vertical dimension, when in door-closing position, sufiiciently small that when the door is in the upper horizontal storage position on the track portions 264 or 264', then the formerly lowermost edge of the door is not in a position to obstruct the opening 20 substantially, whereby when the railroad car is used for cargo other than grain, large objects can be moved through the doorway opening 20 without its height being impaired by the bulk cargo door 40 of this invention.

Further, in operation, it will be seen that when the door of this invention is in storage, fork-lift trucks, shovel boards, and shovel board cables will not tend to damage the C-shaped trackway 60 because of its extensive protection by the portion 132, 166, and by a wrap-around tip portion 802 of a vertically extending element 176, whereby the trackway 60 is substantially recessed and protected, making this permanent grain door practical so that it can be actually used in the industry in competition with other forms of door closures, saving immense amounts of money throughout the country because of the permanent nature of the door.

From the foregoing description, it is thought to be obvious that a railroad car bulk cargo door constructed in accordance with my invention is particularly well adapted for use, by reason of the convenience and facility with which it may be assembled and operated, and it will also be obvious that my invention can be changed and modified without departing from the principles and spirit thereof, and for this reason, I do not wish to be understood as limiting myself to the precise arrangement and formation of the several parts herein shown in carrying out my invention in practice, except as claimed.

I claim:

1. In combination: a bulk load carrying vehicle, said vehicle having side walls and a roof, at least one of said side walls having a doorway opening therethrough, a bulk cargo door disposed across said opening, said door having a plurality of horizontally elongated panels disposed one above another, means interconnecting adjacent ones of said panels along their adjoining edges for pivoting with respect to each other about respective horizontally extending axes, trackways having vertically extending portions on each side of said doorway opening, trackway protection means attached to the respective side wall at each side of said doorway and disposed in the area between said doorway opening and a respective side of said trackway, those parts of said trackway protection means which are exposed so that they could be struck by implements traveling through said doorway and could possibly be damaged thereby being spaced a sufficient distance from said trackway means that such spacing will substantially reduce the likelihood of damage to said trackway means at a time when a substantial force strikes said exposed parts of said protection means, and said protection means being of a suificient strength for substantially protecting the respective portion of said trackway means from damage as a result of engagement by implements commonly used to remove cargo from such a vehicle, and track follower means attached to said panels for attaching said panels slidably to said trackway means.

2. The combination of claim 1 in which the side wall adjacent said opening is provided with recesses on each side thereof, and in which said vertical portions of said track are received in said recesses.

3. The combination of claim 1 in which said side portions of said trackway have horizontally extending portions extending under the roof of said vehicle, and said trackway having intermediate portions interconnecting said vertical and horizontal portions, the total height of said door being less than the total height of said opening and said door when in an upper position for storage being substantially all receivable on portions of said trackway means other than said vertical portions thereof with that end of said door which is closest said opening when said door is in storage position being disposed above the uppermost edge of the said opening for the free use of said opening while said bulk door is in storage position.

4. The combination of claim 1 in which releasable holding means is provided for holding said bulk door from movement toward closed position at times when said bulk door is in storage.

5. The combination of claim 1 in which said panels are provided with multiple bends extending horizontally therethrough for giving said panels strength.

6. The combination of claim 1 in which said means hingedly interconnecting said adjacent ones of said panels comprises horizontally extending interlocking adjacent edge portions of adjacent panels whereby said means for hinged interconnection (pivotally) is formed by panel portion integral with respective panels so as to be formable from the same material as respective panels.

7. The combination of claim 1 in which said track follower means comprises rollers disposed in said tracks, roller supporting hanger bars pivotally attached to said rollers, and means pivotally attaching said hanger bars to said door panels respectively by means disposed on the inner side of said door panels, hanger bar openings extending through said door panels, said hanger bars extending through said hanger bar openings.

8. The combination of claim 1 in which said track followers means comprises rollers disposed in said tracks, roller supporting hanger bars pivotally attached to said rollers, and means pivotally attaching said hanger bars to said door panels respectively by means disposed on the inner side of said door panels, hanger bar openings extending through said door panels, said hanger bars extending through said hanger bar openings, and housing means attached to inner sides of said panels for preventing bulk cargo from passing through said doorway at said hanger bar openings.

9. The combination of claim 1 in which said track follower means comprises rollers disposed in said tracks, roller supporting hanger bars pivotally attached to said rollers, and means pivotally attaching said hanger bars to said door panels respectively by means disposed on the inner side of said door panels, hanger bar openings extending through said door panels, said hanger bars extending through said hanger bar openings, and sealing means disposed along said doorway panels between said hanger bars for preventing the escape of bulk cargo around said door between said hanger bars.

10. The combination of claim 1 in which said trackway and said trackway projection means provide a trackway which is without any surfaces extending substantially at degrees to the respective side wall which could be struck by a shovel board or fork lift truck.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 974,699 11/1910 Ogden 189 1,336,068 -1 4/1920 Chesebro. 1,630,680 5/1927 Twedt et al. 160193 X 2,204,363 6/1940 Jenkins et a1. 160235 X 2,263,077 11/1941 Faux 160-201 X 2,703,247 3/1955 Wolf et a1. 2,786,523 3/1957 Phillips 160201 X 3,017,218 1/1962 Groth et a1 160193 X 3,104,699 9/1963 Wolf et al 160-201 X 3,263,734 8/1966 Lister 160-113 DAVID J. WILLIAMOWSKY, Primary Examiner.

HARRISON L. MOSELEY, DENNIS L. TAYLOR,

Examiners. 

1. IN COMBINATION: A BULK LOAD CARRYING VEHICLE, SAID VEHICLE HAVING SIDE WALLS AND A ROOF, AT LEAST ONE OF SAID SIDE WALLS HAVING A DOORWAY OPENING THERETHROUGH, A BULK CARGO DOOR DISPOSED ACROSS SAID OPENING, SAID DOOR HAVING A PLURALITY OF HORIZONTALLY ELONGATED PANELS DISPOSED ONE ABOVE ANOTHER, MEANS INTERCONNECTING ADJACENT ONES OF SAID PANELS ALONG THEIR ADJOINING EDGES FOR PIVOTING WITH RESPECT TO EACH OTHER ABOUT RESPECTIVE HORIZONTALLY EXTENDING AXES, TRACKWAYS HAVING VERTICALLY EXTENDING PORTIONS ON EACH SIDE OF SAID DOORWAY OPENING, TRACKWAY PROTECTION MEANS ATTACHED TO THE RESPECTIVE SIDE WALL AT EACH SIDE OF SAID DOORWAY AND DISPOSED IN THE AREA BETWEEN SAID DOORWAY OPENING AND A RESPECTIVE SIDE OF SAID TRACKWAY, THOSE PARTS OF SAID TRACKWAY PROTECTION MEANS WHICH ARE EXPOSED SO THAT THEY COULD BE STRUCK BY IMPLEMENTS TRAVELING THROUGH SAID DOORWAY AND COULD POSSIBLY BE DAMAGED THEREBY BEING SPACED A SUFFICIENT DISTANCE FROM SAID TRACKWAY MEANS THAT SUCH SPACING WILL SUBSTANTIALLY REDUCE THE LIKELIHOOD OF DAMAGE TO SAID TRACKWAY MEANS AT A TIME WHEN A SUBSTANTIAL FORCE STRIKES SAID EXPOSED PARTS OF SAID PROTECTION MEANS, AND SAID PROTECTION MEANS BEING OF A SUFFICIENT STRENGTH FOR SUBSTANTIALLY PROTECTING THE RESPECTIVE PORTION OF SAID TRACKWAY MEANS FROM DAMAGE AS A RESULT OF ENGAGEMENT BY IMPLEMENTS COMMONLY USED TO REMOVE CARGO FROM SUCH A VEHICLE, AND TRACK FOLLOWER MEANS ATTACHED TO SAID PANELS FOR ATTACHING SAID PANELS SLIDABLY TO SAID TRACKWAY MEANS. 